Leaving town (Nov. 24-26)

The trip back to Vancouver from the Andaman Coast of Thailand was a blur of making-the-most-of-the-time. It goes a bit like this:

-partied a little in Phuket and awoke early to fly to Bangkok
-dinner and drinks out with a friend in Bangkok, awaking early the next day to fly to Dubai
-cab gets lost and then stuck in traffic in Dubai
-last dinner out in Dubai, sleep in art hotel (see photo right) and awoke early the next day to fly to Vancouver
-crash into bed.

Post-script: OK I have added some pics now!

Liveaboard (Nov. 18-23)

The Similan Islands were so cool! I saw so much!! Numerous rare fishes, a wreck, a leopard shark and an octopus to name just a few. Made it to the reknowed Richelieu Rock -basically it's a pinnacle in the Andaman Sea with little else around it -the Captain had to negotiate some tricky weather conditions to get us there.

The tour operator came highly recommended and did not disappoint -there was a very high level of environmental care, fastidious attention to safety, enthusiasm for diving, and really good food.

Met a lot of cool people and am arranging to meet up with two British fellows this evening.

Bangkok (Nov. 14-17)

There really is nothing like flying into Bangkok, jumping a bus to Sukhumvit Road and checking into a clean, comfy room near the SkyTrain! Having flown from Jordan to Abu Dhabi to Bahrain to Bangkok over nearly 24 hours, I took a nap and then a lovely swim. Met a cool German guy on his way to Bhutan, so I took him to one of my favourite restairants nearby.

The next day I spent nearly four hours at Central World shopping centre. Normally I am not a fan of shopping malls, but the ones in Siam Square are extraordinary. Street-friendly, architecturally-interesting, bright, spacious and well-stocked, they make Canadian malls look pale. Bangkok malls are the antithesis of Bangkok's streets: clean, cool, roomy, and prices are firm!

Then flew to Phuket to board my Similan Island liveaboard trip. So no blogging for 4 days. See you Nov. 22!

PS: in case you are wondering: "What about India?", I changed my flight to allow some dive time. Pics soon!

Dead Sea (Nov. 13)

Yep, I swam, er, floated helplessly in the oily, salty Dead Sea. It's an usual experience and rather pleasant. The temperature changes from bathwater warm to swimming pool warm every few seconds. When I came out, I felt rejuvinated. Apparently the Sea has health benefits.

Now I am not one to complain, but the garbage on the beach gives the impression that Jordanians do not care for their country. However, they are very proud of it and the many noteworthy places it has. I just can't understand the lack of care when it comes to trash...

Petra (Nov. 11-12)

As I was leaving Aqaba, the bus tout said the bus leaves at 10:30, "inshalla, always inshalla" (God willing). God must have been willing as the bus crept out of the parking lot on the dot and made its way north to Wadi Musa at the edge of the Petra site. Along the way we were treated to local music videos which resembled Al Quaeda recruitment drive complete with armed men in masks rapelling buildlings and pulling people forciby out of cars.


The guidebook warned of numerous scams and hassles in Wadi Musa, and with the excpetion of my hotel, the town delivers. The usual stuff, shortchanging, hidden fees, foreigners' prices, etc. But Petra is quite lovely. I visited it at night by candlelight and heard a musical performance and a brief story told by a local. Rather enchanting.

My hotel hosts said there are secret police that spy on people here. How East German...

Aqaba, Jordan (Nov. 8-10)

Arrived in Aqaba after a pretty long travel day including a missed flight (my first ever) due to Abu Dhabi's taxi service (or lack thereof). Plus the requisite waiting altrenating with rushing. Strange things happened. I survived.

I visited a hotel touted in the guidebook as a backpackers' favourite for service and cleanliness. Apperently the Lonley Planet people never visited the establishment which plumbed the depths of squalor, if not price. Little good to say about the town excpet that the diving is fabulous. I visited a coral garden that went on forever, and did a wreck dive to 25 metres. Fish which were indescribably beautiful. Puffer fish. So cool.

Fujairah (Nov. 6-7)

Mayna generously took me to a beachside resort near the seaside town of Fujairah. It's a rocky, pretty spot on the Indian Ocean with all the usual amenities that I do without when travelling: smart rooms, cheerful staff, a pool, restaurants and a fabulous breakfast buffet. We slept, ate and swam. Then repeated. I'm afraid I might have become used to the comfort.

Orientation

Getting lost and confused is part of all travel (how else would Columbus have ended up in North America?), but here it's noteworthy. My friend John says that it takes an average of 6 tries asking for directions to get the correct ones. I did better. In the Abu Dhabi airport, I asked the way to the Ticketting Office. The security guard pointed confidently and said "straight". When I reached another, I repeated my request. The second guard, pointing in the way I had just come, said "straight". The second one, although incorrect about going straight, was correct in the general diecrtion. But they do pretty well for a city with no formal addressing system.

When I landed at the Amman airport in Jordan, I arrived into a typical arrivals hall: cafe, money changer, info desk. I crossed the street to the buildling marked "Departures" and walked into the same room: cafe, money changer, info desk. Even the same mural on the wall. For a moment I wondered if I had accidentally turned myself around. But it was actually another arrivals area! Too strange.

Driving in a place with no left turns... (Nov. 4-5)

...or for that matter, any c0ncern about near misses of 2-3 millimetres. Not even a honk. Just don't drive slowly.

Mayna kindly loaned me her car to visit Dubai, a 1.5 hour drive away. I went immediately to the Palm, a strange planning phenomenon here in which a landform is sculpted in the shape of a palm frond for the sole benefit of those viewing it from space. The thing is massive beyond my expectations, and fraught with planning mistakes including cookie-cutter architecture, a highway system (on a peninsula!) and environmental impacts too many to mention.


Also checked out the Burj Dubai which is a greater success. It is a rather handsome spire with relatively good street presence (only I would visit the tallest structure in the world and look at the ground). In the nearby Dubai Mall (some superlative most certainly applies) I saw a solid malachite bathtub for sale for $200,000. Rather fetching actually.


Dubai, like Abu Dhabi, looks like a construction site. Cranes and trucks everywhere. Not to be believed.


Dinner with Mayna at a funky spot located in a furniture store. Sounds crazy but I had a fabulous lamb shank on top of a rosemary polenta that actually made me fond of polenta!

Still no pictures. But soon!

PS: in case you are wondering about the subject line, to make a left turn, you do a U-turn followed by a right turn.

Abu Dhabi, Nov. 2-3

As usual the food is a highlight. The Eastern food choices are similar to those at home, but the quality is higher and flavours more interesting. Last night at the Lebanese Flower, an institution in Abu Dhabi grill houses, we had an incredible spread. First come a veggie/olive/pickle plate and a nut plate. They're the complimentary starter like bread at home. Then some hummous which is silky smooth and slightly tangy. Then grilled whitefish and a mixed grill of chicken and beef, including pitas stuffed with a thin layer of flavourful meat. You dip this in a garlic sauce. No alcohol of course but I had a fruit shake that included banana, strawberry, mango and a float of avacado that could only have been improved with a shot of rum.


I made a visit to the Emirates Palace, which is really a hotel. Needless to say it's opulent, and includes lots of shopping. But also a gallery displaying the ambitious plans for a new island cultural precinct featuring, among many others, new Guggenheim and L'ouvre museums.


My great success du jour is finding a bank that is: open, not under renovations, and would change my money! I am now flush with local currency.

Pictures not loading: will post soon.

In the land of milk, honey and oil... not necessarily in that order

So 15 hours on a plane goes by much faster than you think when there's a good onboard entertainment system.

The mother of all travel days started with a quick flight to San Francisco where I lucked into some of their famous fog, a few hours at the MOMA (right), Mexican lunch in the Mission and back to the airport for some duty-free shopping.

Then into the cigar tube. It was an a new long haul Boeing 777. Which was good. The other planes tend to fall out of the sky before the 15th hour due to lack of fuel; these babies have a range of 17,000 km.

After clearing immigration in Dubai (a process of about 3 mins waiting), I found my baggage on the carousel (Singapore is the only other place I know to be this efficient) and met Mayna looking swell and relaxed in a burka. OK, it was a sleeveless black shirt. They can be hard to distinguish.

She had booked a nice place in the old quarter which features the labyrinthine streets one associates with the Middle East. No complaints about the accommodation. I told Mayna that I might get too used to comfort and style and this not be able to travel backpacker style again. She said that India would cure me of that.

Three things I have noticed about here:

1. Smells. Good ones. Incense, potpourri, cologne. People and places smell good.

2. Cranes. It appears that the maxim about the tower crane being the national bird is correct. Despite the recession, there's a lot of construction going on here.

3. Most people are from somewhere else. Just like Vancouver, but more pronounced, most people are not UAE nationals. Lots of Indians and Filipinos.

OK time for cocktails and dinner. Seriously.